


Ignored

by rainbowgoddess



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-04
Updated: 2011-08-04
Packaged: 2017-10-22 04:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/233990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowgoddess/pseuds/rainbowgoddess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike and Harvey have been in a relationship for a while now, and they have a party at Harvey's place. But when Harvey ignores Mike in favour of flirting with every woman at the party, Mike gets fed up and leaves Harvey, leaving behind a note to explain himself. Harvey wants to get Mike back, but how?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ignored

**Author's Note:**

> From the Suits prompt meme on LiveJournal.

Mike had been looking forward to this party all week. He considered it his and Harvey's coming-out party. They'd be hosting it _together_ , finally showing everyone that they truly were a couple. Oh, people generally knew — it wasn't like they'd been keeping it a secret — but this party was important, because it was their first event together as a couple.

“Mike, you're bouncing,” Harvey said to his associate/boyfriend in fond exasperation. “Cut it out. We still have work to do today.”

Mike leered at Harvey. “I say we take off early. There's nothing urgent on the calendar. Donna's taken care of all the bring-forwards. We're not due in court. There aren't any depositions or anything. I'm sure I can find some way to keep you busy until the party.”

“Don't tempt me,” Harvey growled.

The problem there was that the way Harvey growled tempted Mike beyond reason. Pretending to read some paperwork over Harvey's shoulder, he leaned in and whispered in Harvey's ear, “If you don't take me home, I'm going to be forced to go jack off in the men's room.”

Harvey groaned and gently pushed his associate away. “All right. Wait for me downstairs. I'll finish up here.”

Mike bounced out of Harvey's office.

As Harvey left the office a few minutes later, Donna said to him, “Was that my imagination, or was Mike _bouncing_?”

“It was your imagination,” Harvey replied. “Listen, Mike and I have a meeting to go to, so we're out of the office for the rest of the day. See you tonight?”

Donna looked puzzled. “There aren't any meetings on the calendar,” she pointed out.

“It was...unscheduled,” Harvey told her.

“Oh, _that_ kind of meeting.” Donna rolled her eyes. “Can't you guys keep it in your pants for even one day? Yes, you'll see me tonight.”

Later....

The party was a huge success. The food — professionally catered, of course — was excellent. Harvey had a fine selection of wine and liqueurs. He was a charming host, and the guests were happy.

However, as the evening wore on, Mike noticed that Harvey seemed to be spending an awful lot of time with the many attractive women he had invited. He paid no attention to Mike, who was left to “mingle” with the other guests, most of whom he didn't know, apart from those people they'd invited from work. Since he was one of the hosts, Mike didn't think it would be appropriate to spend all his time with Rachel, Donna and Jessica, but he would have liked to.

Fortunately, he'd read a couple of articles on the Internet about how to make small talk, and he used what he'd learned from those articles.

As the night wore on, and Harvey continued to talk to and flirt with everyone but him, Mike was fed up. He had done his best to entertain Harvey's friends, while Harvey had ignored him completely. Maybe Harvey really did prefer women. Maybe he didn't want to acknowledge their relationship after all.

Mike went into the bedroom and wrote a note, which he left on the bed. Harvey would find it when he turned in for the night. Then Mike put on his coat and slipped quietly out the door.

As the party came to an end and the last guests had departed, Harvey breathed a sigh of relief. He enjoyed his little get-togethers, but they were exhausting. He'd been pleased at how Mike had handled himself, though; Harvey knew that Mike was a bit socially awkward at times, but he'd done a good job mingling with the guests. He was proud of Mike and proud to call him his partner.

Speaking of Mike, where the hell was he? He'd probably been a bit overwhelmed at all the social interaction and had gone out for a breath of fresh air. He'd go look for him. Harvey went into the bedroom to grab a jacket from the closet, and that was when he spied the note on the bed.

 _Harvey,_ it read,

 _This evening was an eye-opener for me. I don't know if you did it deliberately, but your behaviour at the party showed me how you really feel about me. You've obviously enjoyed the physical side of our relationship, as have I, but apparently you don't care enough to acknowledge me in front of your friends. I was proud to be your partner. I didn't expect you to shout it from the rooftops or anything; that's not your style. But I didn't expect to be ignored, either. I guess I didn't understand the way you saw us together._

 _I was tempted to make this my resignation letter, but I do want to keep my job. But I need some time off to get you out of my system. So I'm going to take a couple of weeks of vacation, away from the office. If that's not okay with you, then I guess you'll have to fire me. I'd tell you not to come looking for me, but I doubt you would anyway._

 _I love you, Harvey. I wish I didn't, but I do._

 _Mike_

Holy shit. Mike had left him. Mike had left him? Mike had left him over a stupid little party? Harvey didn't know what the hell Mike was talking about. What behaviour had upset Mike so much that he would leave without a word?

Harvey grabbed the phone and called Donna. He seldom called her at home, but this was a fucking emergency.

“DONNA!” he shouted into the phone. “I need your help. Badly.”

“What's wrong, Harvey? Is it a case? Can't it wait till Monday?”

“No, it's not a case. It's Mike. He.... He.... He left me, Donna. During the party. He didn't say anything, just left me a note on the bed. He said something about the way I behaved at the party showing him how I really feel about him. He said he doesn't like being ignored.”

Donna sighed. “Harvey, did you speak to Mike at all during the party tonight?”

Harvey thought for a moment. “No, I don't think so. Why would I? I can talk to Mike anytime. He all but lives here. I see him at work every day.”

 _Typical Harvey_ , Donna thought but didn't say. “Who did you talk to tonight?” she asked.

“Everyone,” Harvey answered immediately.

“Okay, who did you talk to, to say more than hello?”

“Everyone,” Harvey answered again.

“Harvey, I was there tonight, remember? I saw how you behaved. You had a number of attractive female guests, and you spent most of your time talking to them. You didn't speak to Mike, your boyfriend, the most important person in your life, but you talked to, and probably flirted with, all the women there. How do you think that looked to Mike?”

It took a few minutes for Donna's words to sink in, but when they did, Harvey realized what he'd done and how it must have looked to Mike. Crap. “I get it,” he sighed.

“Good,” Donna yawned. “Now go find Mike and let me go to sleep.”

Harvey said good night to Donna. Then he dialled Mike's number. No answer. Well, he hadn't really expected Mike to answer. So he called a cab to take him over to Mike's apartment. Mike had insisted on keeping it for now, something about needing his own space once in a while, so Harvey figured that was where he would be.

There was no answer to his gentle knocks on the door, though. It was after one in the morning, so Harvey didn't want to knock too loudly. He realized he'd given Mike a key to his apartment, but he didn't have a key to Mike's apartment, and he didn't think it would be a good idea to wake up the building manager in the middle of the night to ask for one.

He wondered if Mike had planned it that way. He didn't know if Mike was even in his apartment.

Harvey spent the entire weekend calling, texting and emailing Mike. He went by Mike's apartment several times. He finally talked to the building manager, who wouldn't let him into Mike's apartment but said that he was pretty sure Mike hadn't been home all weekend.

Meanwhile....

Mike turned off the ringer on his phone. It was too tempting to answer it when Harvey called, as Harvey kept doing. Repeatedly. That was when he wasn't sending text messages or emails.

He was staying at Rachel's for the time being. She'd been surprised by his showing up on her doorstep in the middle of the night, but she'd welcomed him in and given him a shoulder to cry on and a couch to sleep on. Not that he'd done much sleeping. Even when his phone hadn't been ringing, he'd found it impossible to sleep. He was too used to snuggling up to Harvey's warm body at night.

He knew he couldn't stay here forever. He'd go back to his own place on Monday. He hoped that by then he'd have the internal fortitude to turn Harvey away if he showed up, which he was likely to do.

Maybe he really could take a holiday, get out of town for awhile. But he had no idea where he could go — “anywhere that Harvey isn't” wasn't specific enough — and he didn't want to leave his grandmother for too long.

Back at Harvey's condo....

It had been less than a day since Mike had departed and left that note, but Harvey missed him already. He'd been trying to come up with a way to explain his actions the night before — not that he'd had any chance to talk to Mike in order to explain them.

He really had not intended to hurt or neglect his boyfriend. He hadn't even realized that Mike had felt neglected, though really, thinking back on it, he should have. All he'd wanted to do was allow Mike to be his own person, not “Harvey's boyfriend,” and not spend the entire evening glued to Harvey. After hosting the associates dinner, Harvey thought Mike was up to the task of co-hosting this party.

Unfortunately, he'd failed to inform Mike of that fact.

As for spending all his time with the female guests at the party, well, that was just an old habit. It was what he'd always done. Again, he hadn't thought of how it would appear to Mike.

The fact was, Harvey just wasn't used to being in a relationship. Most of his previous “relationships” had been little more than one-night stands or someone to appear on his arm at events.

He called Mike for the umpteenth time, hoping he could fit his apology and explanation into the brief time allotted for voice mails.

Then he discovered that his number had been blocked.

Now what?

One trait of Mike's that Harvey alternately admired and was annoyed by was Mike's stubbornness. When Mike was determined, there was no stopping him. The problem here was that Mike was determined to not let Harvey in.

Harvey thought about the note Mike had left him. He'd said, _I love you. I wish I didn't, but I do._

He knew that Mike loved him. It was impossible for Mike to hide it. Mike was the kind of guy who wore his heart on his sleeve. It was kind of cute, in that puppy-dog way Mike had. He didn't say it out loud, though, and neither did Harvey. In fact, Harvey never used that word to anyone. It wasn't in his vocabulary.

Maybe he should change that.

Mike couldn't stay away from his apartment forever. Even if he moved out, he would have to go there to pick up his belongings. He'd also have to retrieve all the stuff he'd left at Harvey's condo. Somehow or other, Harvey would see Mike.

As Mike prepared to leave Rachel's place, he tried to stop thinking about Harvey. He had said he'd go back to working for him in a couple of weeks, but he was already reconsidering it. This was the best job he'd ever had, and he didn't want to give it up, but he didn't know how he was going to be able to work with Harvey after the way their relationship had turned out.

Maybe he could go to law school. He could certainly pass the LSAT — under his own name, for once. He could try to get a student loan. Harvard was out of his reach, but maybe a smaller school would accept him. Then he wouldn't have to worry about someone finding out his secret.

He did wonder if he should at least listen to what Harvey had to say. Probably just excuses. Really, what could he say? “I'm sorry that I completely ignored you all night in favour of flirting with blondes with big tits”? He'd blocked Harvey's number so that Harvey couldn't call or text him, and he'd asked Rachel to go through his email INBOX and delete anything from Harvey without reading it. When he got home he'd set up his email program to send all of Harvey's emails to the trash bin. He couldn't block Harvey forever, though, not if he wanted to keep working for him.

Again, he wasn't sure if he still wanted to work for Harvey. This was probably why so many people like Rachel had personal rules against dating co-workers. It made a lot of sense, especially when said co-worker was your boss. But he'd give himself the two weeks he'd asked Harvey for — unless, of course, Harvey chose to fire him — and see if he could stand to be around Harvey after that time.

On Monday morning, assuming Harvey would be at the office (and why wouldn't he be?) Mike went back to his apartment.

Where he found Harvey leaning against the door.

“What are you doing here?” Mike asked. It was too soon to see Harvey. “I told you I'd be back in two weeks.”

“What I have to say couldn't wait two weeks,” Harvey replied. “Now, do you want to stand out here and argue where all the neighbours can hear us, or do you want to invite me in?”

Mike didn't like either of those options, but he figured that letting Harvey come in was the lesser of two evils. “All right. Come in, say your piece, and then leave me alone for the next two weeks.”

Harvey followed Mike inside. He took a seat on a chair opposite where Mike sat on the couch. “Before I say my piece, as you put it, I want to hear yours.”

“Huh?” This wasn't what Mike was expecting to hear.

“I want to know what upset you so much that you left. You weren't very clear in your note. I can tell that I hurt you, but I don't know what exactly I did to hurt you.” Donna had given him a pretty good idea, of course, but he wanted to make sure she was right.

“It wasn't what you did,” Mike sighed. “It was what you didn't do.”

“What didn't I do?”

“You didn't pay any attention to me all night. I thought I was there as your partner, but it was like you didn't even know me. You didn't speak to me. You didn't introduce me to anyone. You didn't touch me or even smile at me once. It was like I wasn't there. To make it worse, the people you did talk to were all female, and very attractive females. You were flirting with them. You touched them, Harvey, even though you didn't touch me all night.”

By now, Mike was in tears, and it was gut-wrenching for Harvey to see. He hated seeing how hurt Mike was, and he hated that he'd caused it, no matter how inadvertently. He could feel tears starting in his own eyes.

“Harvey, do you like women?” Mike asked.

“Yes, I like women.”

“Do you like them more than you like me?” Mike sobbed.

“No, Mike. There is no one I like more than I like you.”

“I don't believe you.”

“Mike, I am sorry that I hurt you. I was wrong. I wanted people to see you as an individual, not as simply my boyfriend. So I made an effort to leave you alone and let people get to know you on your own. But I didn't tell you what I was doing, and I let you get the wrong idea. As for the flirting, yes, I do like women. I do like to flirt with women. But I would never go any further than that with anyone other than you.”

Mike didn't believe him. He wanted to. It would make everything all right again. Things could go back to the way they were. He could work for Harvey again. He could sleep with Harvey again. But he couldn't let go. He couldn't believe that Harvey would act the way he had at the party if he really meant what he was saying now. He shook his head. “No. I don't believe you. You're just saying what you think I want to hear. It's just platitudes. You like women. You always have. I'm just another notch on your bedpost. You saw that I was attracted to you, so you took advantage of it. It's not like I'm not used to it. People have used me before, including Trevor, of course.”

The things Mike was saying were very difficult for Harvey to hear. He hadn't realized that was how Mike saw him. He didn't want to be another person who used Mike for personal gain. He also hated to hear how Mike had been mistreated in the past. “Mike,” Harvey said softly, “look at me.”

Mike didn't want to look at Harvey, so Harvey put his hand under Mike's chin and raised his head to eye level. “Look at me, Mike. I have something to tell you.”

Mike was shocked to see that Harvey had tears in his eyes. He'd thought that nothing could ever affect Harvey that strongly. Harvey was a rock, an island, like the song went: _a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries._ “What do you want to tell me?”

“I love you, Mike. I love you.”

Suddenly, without even being aware of moving, Mike was in Harvey's arms, and they were holding each other, hugging each other, kissing each other, both of them in tears. Then Mike was dragging Harvey into his bedroom. It wasn't anything like Harvey's condo, of course, but as long as there was a bed, neither of them cared. They tore each other's clothes off and made love urgently, desperately, unable to get enough of each other. Then, as soon as they were ready, they did it again. Eventually they both fell asleep, exhausted, since neither of them had had any sleep over the weekend.

When Mike woke up, it was early afternoon. He shook Harvey. “Wake up,” he said. “Wake up!”

Groggily, Harvey opened his eyes, taking a moment to remember where he was. “Okay, okay, I'm awake. What's wrong?”

“Shouldn't you be at work? It's like two in the afternoon.”

Harvey shrugged. “I cleared my calendar before I came over. I figured that no matter which way things went, I wouldn't feel like going back to work right away.”

“Do you feel like going back to work now?” Mike asked.

“Definitely not.”

“Good,” Mike said, and threw himself on Harvey.

END


End file.
